ABOUT THE ISSUE
In San Salvador, El Salvador, 2,000 miles from Los Angeles’s Eighteenth Street, a gang known as “18″ governs its territory like an armed militia. In the mid 1990s, thousands of Salvadoran nationals living illegally in the U.S. were deported to their homeland. Some brought L.A. gang culture back with them to a country beset by poverty and awash in arms. Organizing support for gang members in need, meting out justice to those who would defy the gang’s code and waging an endless vendetta against its enemies, 18 is helping to make El Salvador one of the most violent and crime-ridden countries in the world.
ABOUT THE FILM
WIDE ANGLE’s film, 18 with a Bullet, follows the life of this notorious Central American gang for six months. By the end of the film, most of the gang members profiled – Slappy, Sochi, and 18-year old Travieso – are in jail serving long sentences for their crimes.
For the summer 2008 re-broadcast, WIDE ANGLE follows the film with an update that tells another side of this transnational story. Like many Salvadoran gang members, Travieso was separated from his mother when she went north to find work in the United States.
Today, she runs a successful cleaning business in the U.S. and holds a temporarily legal immigration status, but her sacrifices and the remittances sent home have not managed to give Travieso the better life she had dreamed for him. This mother’s story paints a nuanced portrait of one immigrant’s experience and the sometimes heartbreaking difficulties of life stretched across borders.
Another example of how pathetic people are. I really don’t care what the gangs do to each other in the other countries. If they make it our problem then we send in the troops. I also think the U.S. is to soft in dealing with that type of problem here. Shoot first and ask questions later when it comes to them. They don’t need to be in jail they need to be destroyed. I had some gang member try and intimidate me once. I just told him I had been in the Army and there was no “gang” bigger or badder than mine. He could mess with the best and die like the rest. He was no different than any other type of terrorist as far as I am concerned. Maybe worse because he was an American.
WELL THIS IS FOR THE IGNORENT PPL WHO THINK THEY KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN THESE PPL’S LIVES… TRY TO TALK TO ONE TRY TO BE THERE BECAUSE THEY END UP THIS WAY FOR A REASON… THEY LOOK FOR LOVE THAT IS NOT GIVEN TO THEM WHERE THEY FIND IT IN THE STREETS WITH MEMBERS WHO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS OR HAVE BEEN IN THEIR SHOES KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH, THATS WHEN THEY START TO GET DEEPER INTO THE GANG BECAUSE THEY START TO CARE FOR EACH OTHER NOT ALL ARE LIKE THAT MOST ARE ONE MAN FOR HIM SELF AND DONT CARE ABOUT THE REST THESE KIDS LOOK FOR ATTENTION, THEY WANT TO FORGET ABOUT THE EMPTY SPACE INSIDE IF WE HAD PEOPLE WILLING TO KEEP PUSHING AND HELP THESE KIDS MANY WOULD BE SAVED BEFORE IT GETS TO LATE GIVE THEM A REASON TO DO GOOD GIVE THEM MODIVATION AND THEY WILL WORK FOR IT! UNFORTUNATLY WE HAVE TOO MANY PPL IN THIS WORLD THAT THINK THEY ARE BETTER THAN THE REST AND THAT THESE PPL ARE BAD DEEP DOWN INSIDE THEY HAVE FEELINGS TOO THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SHOVING DOWN TO PROVE THAT THEY ARE STRONG. IF WE WERE TO PUNISH THE ONES THAT DO THINGS WRONG OR HURT PEOPLE IN SOME WAY EVERYBODY WOULD BE PUNISHED NOBODY IS INNOCENT IM NOT TRYING TO DEFEND GANG MEMBERS BUT THEY ARE HUMAN TOO YA MANY HAVE BEEN IN IT SO LONG THEY KNOW NOTHING ELSE THEY ARE SICK IN THE HEAD BUT THATS BECAUSE NO ONE WAS ABLE TO HELP THEM “THEY ARE HARD HEADED” THEY WILL PUSH YOU AWAY TO SEE HOW FAR YOUR GOING TO GET WITH THEM TO SEE HOW FAST YOU GIVE UP ON THEM!
poor travieso’slappy’sochi’hey thank you for the great job you did’can u please tell me what ever happen to DUKE another thing be carefull when u r filming remember what happen to christian poveda the juy that film VIDA LOCA”good luck to you and keep up the good work”
The US government created this monster by waging a terrorist campaign against El Salvador in the 80’s. Before you assume the US was justified in its tactics, learn more about what was done to the people: it crosses into the demonic. The US is responsible, but that does not address the issue at hand, which is ‘What is to be done?’.
Educate yourself, face your fears, learn and change yourself, knowing about these atrocities helps me make educated choices, and sometimes there is no easy answer, but there is something each of us to do, and that is become the best person you can. Facing these things is motivation. If you don’t educate yourself, at least understand that you are in a weakened condition, and that your opinion mirrors that weakness.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Chomsky/ChomOdon_ElSalvador.html
do enybody know what the last song is on this documentary,i ma looking for this thing very long time
Well in the streets were enemies but there also a lot like my friends.we all talk the same feel the same act the same morn the same,and its true that the life we lead is one out of the ordinary.
I heard that Travieso from the documentary was shot and killed about a year or 2 ago near Chalatenango, El Salvador….it sucks because of his situation..he might of been a gang member, but all he wanted was to be w/ his mother….my thoughts and prayers to his family…there should be more documentaries done to see how they are doing..
o my god are you sure travieso is dead where did you read that or hear that plz give me the link so i can read it to
i feel so sad for this boys they where just children
are you sure travieso is dead where did you read that or hear that can you give me the link from the site where you read that i feel so sad for his familie o my god
For Igor:
Last song is on the documentary is: Brian Eno “An Ending (Ascent)
What is Charlie & Sochi up to nowadays?
what happened to charlie, sochi,and diego-travieso,,i really think we neeed another 2011 update there is alot of people interested to know about them nowdays,,,
Does anyone know the name of the song they were singing for the dead member ?